Son of a Jack
by Sleepy Lotus
Summary: 17 years after World's End, Jack finds out he and Liz have a son. When an angered sea witch threatens to take him for her own, Jack must face his past, the woman he loves and the blacksmith he betrayed to save a boy he never knew. Long live JE!
1. Chapter 1

1. Prologue: Permission To Come Aboard

Twas a perfect night, clear, cool, no moon but the bright light from the stars was enough to light the way. Bottle of rum in hand, Jack took a walking tour of his ship, surveying every plank of wood and rigging knot. After coming back from the land of the dead, he'd made a habit of running his hands over their surface, as though they were new to him. Something about dying and being given another chance put things in a bit of perspective for Jack; for how could life ever be quite the same again? The change wasn't evident to most; only a few seemed aware of the new darkness in his eyes. Gibbs, and of course, the one who Jack would have most preferred to not know: Ms. Swann.

Upon first coming back, of course, yes, he'd been furious with her, even if she nearly died to bring him back. But with time, less than he could have possibly imagined, he forgave her. What kind of a pirate forgives the woman who fed him to a kraken? Not a good one; but to forgive another pirate? That was a bit different. And no doubt about it, Elizabeth was a pirate.

Walking half blind in the dark, Jack's musings were interrupted by tripping over something on the deck. He hit the wood planks of the Pearl with a solid _thunk. _"Bloody Hell," he muttered, sitting up on his elbows. Glancing over to see what obstructed his path, Jack found himself face to face with not an object, but Elizabeth.

"Wut're you doin' out here, love? You've got a hammock, y'know. No need to lay out here on the deck, trippin' up the Captain¾"

"I was enjoying the stars, until a certain pirate decided to ruin my peace and quiet." The words seemed sharp, unless one noticed the mocking smile curling on those bewitching lips.

"Oh…mind if I join you?"

She shook her head, and Jack took another swill of rum, turning over on his back to follow her gaze up to the heavens. He offered her the bottle, but she declined libation.

"We'll be in Port Royal tomorrow," said Jack, propping up his head with one arm. "You can finally get back to your normal life, marry Will, settle down to have oodles of babies and be bored senseless."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "And what will you do, Jack Sparrow? After you leave us to our dull land lubber lives."

Jack detected a strained note in her voice. He suspected she might fear going back; whether she realized or not, she'd changed.

What ever little girl inside her that had craved such normal things as a house, a husband, children¾had grown up, had been kicked out, replaced by an adventurous woman with an untamable soul.

"I suppose I'll go back to doing what I do best, love. Being Captain Jack Sparrow."

She sighed. "That must be nice."

"I prefer it. And what of you? Wouldn't it be nice to just be Elizabeth Swann?"

"When am I _not_ Elizabeth Swann?"

"When everyone else is drawing on you to be someone else, someone they need, or want you to be. Ms. Swann, the governor's daughter. Mrs. Turner, eunuch's wife…"

Much annoyed, she quipped, "And what of Mrs. Sparrow, Jack? You too asked me to marry you once."

"Ah, but what could I possibly want you to be, that you aren't already? What more could I ask for than a pirate queen?"

The longer the conversation went on, the lower Elizabeth's spirits fell. What was she getting herself into? How could something she's wanted all her life suddenly scare her so badly? "I'm not a pirate, Jack," sighed Elizabeth. Maybe she wanted to be one though. It was hard to say anymore.

"Of course you are." He offered her the bottle again, and this time she took a long swill. Jack smiled happily, gold teeth flashing in the night. _That's my girl_.

The night continued on to early morning, swapping stories and swigging rum, laughing loudly until finally that long felt tension between them no longer felt quite so tense, and in a way melted into something new. It was no longer a cord strung taut between them, tugging torturously with every glance and brush of sleeve. Now, it became a jar, a basin between them they longed to fill with pieces of themselves, to mingle together.

With more rum than she'd ever imbibed in before coursing through her system, Elizabeth brazenly scooted closer to Jack, laying her head on his shoulder. He smiled happily, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, hand playing absently with the golden silk of her hair. The night seemed far too perfect; he didn't want to see it end. It felt like they owned their own little world, there on the deck of the Pearl, most everyone asleep, the only sounds in the night their happy laughter. But the truth was that eventually the sun would come, and Port Royal would come with her. The thought of watching Elizabeth walking down the gangplank with the whelp to start a new life far away from Jack dampened his mood slightly.

"Will you miss me, Jack?" Elizabeth asked suddenly, craning her head up to look at him.

Jack was silent for what was only a few moments, but seemed like hours. He fought with himself, to keep his mouth shut and out of trouble, or to spill his heart out on the deck of the Pearl. With so much rum in his system, in the end he could be nothing but utterly honest. "You know, love, neither of us needs to be missin' each other at all, really."

"What do you mean?" she asked, playing with one of the silver trinkets in his hair absently.

"I mean…" Jack rolled onto his side, so he could look down at the beautiful woman at his side. Momentarily distracted, he ran a finger over her plump lower lip, longing to graze it with his teeth, feel her skin under his exploring tongue. She closed her eyes, infatuated with the sensation of his touch. _Don't act like that with me and say no_, thought Jack. "We could have a shot at being happy together, if you would come with me instead. We could sail the high sea for as long as we want, do exactly as we please at the very moment we please to."

Elizabeth opened her eyes, and looked up at Jack mournfully. "It sounds nice, Jack, but¾"

"Just nice? Come now, let's be honest here."

She reached up to trace the lines of his face lightly with the tips of her fingers. A sigh of longing escaped his lips, and he turned his head to press kisses to her palm and wrist. "It sounds perfect," she admitted. "But I can't. What about¾" As Jack slipped one of her fingers between his lips, grazing teeth against the pad of her index finger, her last word was barely audible, caught in a breath caused by desire. "Will…"

"Bugger Will," Jack murmured, moving to kiss her neck. His every touch added another stick of fuel to the fire Elizabeth felt igniting, deep within her, that area lower than her stomach she'd always been told a proper lady ignored. But at that moment, feeling the heat of Jack's body pressed her against felt so right, she felt it would be a crime against herself to ignore it. Jack slipped her earlobe between his teeth, teasing the skin lightly, sending a wave of gooseflesh down her spine. The growing warmth between her legs was a sensation she'd only experienced thinking about him, or Will, alone by herself at night. She never imagined he could ignite such desire in her by touching her so little.

Jack had worked his way down her neckline, unbuttoning the top button of her shirt, grazing the top of her breast with teeth. If this continued, she knew they soon would reach a point of no return. Maybe they already had. "I can't forget about Will, Jack," she finally whimpered. He paused in his ministrations, cursing the eunuch silently. He rested his head atop her chest, listening to her heartbeat, feeling that muscle pound against her skin, for him. Not the whelp, for him.

He craved this with every fiber of his being, to explore her, a privilege she'd always denied him before. Because of this, it nearly physically caused him pain to murmur, "It's up to you love, I'll stop if you want. "

The main problem was, Elizabeth didn't want. Because she was curious. Curious, what it was like to do exactly what she wanted, to fall into utterly satisfying self indulgence and not look back. Could Will ever make her feel this way? Would she ever find this perfect feeling again, such heady desire, paired with the feeling of tasting a delicious but oh so forbidden candy?

Sensing the battle within Elizabeth, Jack smiled wickedly, sitting up on his elbows above her. "But you don't _want_ me to stop, do you Lizzie?"

Her chest rose and fall with a deep breath, an attempt to gather her wits about her. Those dark eyes seemed to bore directly into her, straight to her soul. Maybe if it was simply Jack's body she craved, this would have been a much easier beast to slay. But she wanted _him_, all of him, all for her own even if only for a night.

"All we have is tonight, Jack," she whispered, fingers tracing his neck, down to the exposed skin of his chest. He took in a shuddering breath, and she reveled in his reaction to her touch.

"I can't say I don't want more than that, love. But I also can't say I won't take this opportunity, if you offer it."

Elizabeth sighed, so torn inside she could scream. "Of course, the decision is all mine. It always is."

Jack raised an eyebrow, at a loss. What did she want him to do? Whisk her off and have his way with her, no matter what she said? He realized that maybe that was exactly what she wanted. So, with a smirk that made her heart leap into her throat, he scooped her up and carried her to his cabin, kicking open the door. It bounced against the wall, and shut on its own as Jack lay her down on his unmade bed.

She gasped as he immediately ducked down, lifting her shirt to plant kisses on her stomach, tongue dipping dangerously low inside the waistband of her trousers. He looked up at her, flicking open the top button of her pants as he met her eyes. "Permission to come aboard, love?" he murmured, fingers kneading into her sides. However, he waited for no answer, staying his course along her lower belly with a triumphant curl of lips.

The sensations Jack stirred in her body overtook her, swaying her senses and judgment with wave after wave of pleasure, as unyielding and undeniable as the sea. "Permission granted," she said softly, rocking her head back against the pillow, happily complacent to her newly chartered destination.

After making love not once, but thrice, the pair lay in the quiet, enjoying the way their bodies fit perfectly together, and the warmth of their bare skin in the cold night. In their passion they'd fought to stay quiet, for Elizabeth's fiance lay swinging in a hammock just below them, fast asleep.

It took Jack a while to realize, for she did it so silently, but he noticed the dampness of tears running from her cheeks to his shoulder. She didn't cry because of innocence lost, or even just physical pain; she cried because she knew staying with Jack was exactly what she really wanted, and precisely what she could not do.

Understanding the sorrow of a soul so similar to his own so cruelly denied freedom, he stroked her hair. Jack wished she also had a heart as selfish as his own, that would allow her to leave the eunuch for adventure on the sea.

"Will you remember me, love?" Jack asked, wanting to take her mind off her impending fate, had she not the courage to change it.

"How could I ever forget you, Jack?" she asked, voice even, letting on no sign of her tears.

"Oh, I don't know. When one is smothered with the joys of domestic bliss, one takes little time to think of a pirate."

Elizabeth's fears were exactly the opposite. She was afraid her days would be so full of thoughts of Jack and sailing on the Pearl, quiet, calm domestic life would seem utter misery.

Jack slipped a ring off of his ring finger, a heavy silver band laden with a sapphire the size of Elizabeth's thumbnail, and as deep blue as the sea. Lifting Lizzie's delicate hand, he slid the ring on her own ring finger. "Something to remember me by, love."

She smiled happily as the ring spun freely around her finger, far too large for her own slender digits. "It's lovely. Where did you get it?" she asked, moving it to her thumb, where it didn't seem quite so out of place.

"Morocco."

"And did you come by it honestly?"

Jack smiled wryly. "Of course not."

She nestled into the bend of Jack's neck, content. "Perfect."

Please review, I love to hear what my readers think, even if it's just a few words!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I forgot this at the beginning, so…I don't own anything here, and I'm not making money.

2. Prologue Continued: Cruel Fate

"Where did you get that ring?" asked Will. They stood at the prow of the Pearl, watching Port Royal approach from the distance.

"I found it," Elizabeth smoothly lied, knowing better than to let on it had been a gift from Jack. Even though things had been smoothed over since he witnessed her kiss Jack, before feeding him to the kraken, his insecurity over she and Jack was still blatantly obvious. And after last night's actions, she supposed she couldn't particularly blame the poor man. Elizabeth was assaulted by a medley of emotions. She felt guilty about her pirate lover, yet at the same time supremely happy to have indulged in something entirely for herself. On top of that was the sorrow of their impending separation, and apprehension for what the future held. A wedding, a home, and children? Who could say?

She didn't want to think about it at that moment; she only wanted to close her eyes, and revel in the sensation of the sea breeze kissing her face, salty water misting her skin. The smell reminded her of Jack, and seemed the closest she could get to him at that moment.

A burning suspicion in the back of his mind, Will made his way to the helm, where he found Jack navigating with a brooding frown upon his face. "Hello, Jack," said Will, in a far more cheerful tone than anything he'd addressed the pirate with since witnessing him kiss his fiancee. He perched upon the railing, keeping some distance between them.

Jack paid him a sliding glance, and briefly fantasized kicking him overboard, before paying him a terse, " 'Elo."

"Favorable weather for a journey home, is it not?" Will made idle conversation, carefully studying the captain's hands.

_Favorable weather to drop off an eunuch, and keep his bonny lass aboard_, thought Jack. "Aye, it is."

Will stayed silent for some time, pretending to be looking out to sea. Finally, he asked, "Did you lose a ring, Jack?" barely concealing the acid in his tone.

Jack raised an eyebrow, pursing his lips while he made a show of searching his hands, and feigning the subsequent surprise at losing one. "Bugger. Looks like I 'av. There'll be no finding it now, with a ship full of such dishonest scallywags as these."

Will stuck around only so long as to not seem suspicious, though Jack was perfectly privy to his intentions. _Let him wonder, _he thought happily. Fighting the gloom hanging over his head, for he knew he would soon lose his lovely little pirate, and perhaps never see her again, Jack played little daydreams through his head. In one he completely sabotaged Will's trust in Elizabeth, kissing her passionately before her fiance's eyes before they were to depart down the gangplank to Port Royal. He thought joyfully about the swordfight that would most certainly ensue, and his victory over the blacksmith, after which he would kick the eunuch swiftly down into the drink.

The pirate captain moved to another such fantasy, in which Elizabeth cried out his name in she and Will's wedding bed. He would undoubtedly be so furious he would leave her. Jack would then swoop down on Port Royal with the Pearl in a moonless night to collect his pirate queen, and they would sail away, never to return.

In the long run, these little thoughts only seemed to worsen his melancholy, only further beating into his mind the fact that the woman he desired more than any treasure stood utterly out of his grasp. Was it a cruel punishment for his numerous sins? Jack pushed that thought out of his mind, equating the misfortune to cruel fate, and fate alone.

I can't say it's all for the reviews…I mostly write because I have to get the story out of my head to concentrate on more important things, like school. But reviews do persuade me to keep posting…. J


	3. Chapter 3

-13. Prologue Continued: Come Back To Me

Jack couldn't remember the last time he'd felt such pain. Yes, being eaten alive by the kraken had hurt terribly. But this was different. This was heartbreak.

It felt as though his chest was trying to collapse upon itself, some invisible force contracting around his heart, his lungs, forcing his to concentrate on every breath. He watched Port Royal from the back of the ship until she slowly faded into the distance. How does a pirate cope with the knowledge that the most incredibly woman he's ever met, the most perfectly suited lass for him, may have just walked off his ship and out of his life forever? With rum, of course.

Gibbs glanced over at their distraught Captain from the helm, staring so forlornly at the space where Port Royal had once been on the horizon. Twas no secret what ailed the captain so, especially not to ol' Gibbs. He'd seen Jack sweep that pretty creature off her feet and into his cabin, and certainly knew what transpired afterwards. And a girl like that, oh, she wasn't easy to give up. Trying to give some bit of comfort, he said, "We're all going to miss 'er, Captain. But we've got a good bit of adventure ahead of us to take the mind off it, eh? Nothin' like a bit o' glitter to put a smile on a pirate's face."

Jack took a long swill from the bottle of rum clutched in his hand like a lifeline, and turned to his first mate. He was one man on the boat Jack felt he could be perfectly honest with. "Where that may be true, Gibbs, I'm afraid I'll need a bit of time to recall it. So, I'm givin' you the Pearl for a day or so, until I do. Excuse me, while I drink myself, and her memory, into oblivion."

Already shaky on his feet, Jack staggered down the stairs, and retreated into his cabin. There on his bed, the drips of blood from Elizabeth's broken maidenhead still stained the sheets. Seeing as Jack rarely to never washed his bedding, that haunting reminder of their night of passion would remain for quite some time.

He recalled their parting embrace, a quick, shallow affair, forced to be cordial in front of young Will. "When you change your mind, come find me," he'd whispered in her ear, lingering longer than the eunuch liked. He could see the hatred in the lad's eyes, even reveled in it. She'd looked up at him with those large dark eyes, mournfully, wanting every bit of what a life with Jack promised. Her hands squeezed his sides, her only indication in front of Will of how badly she wanted to stay with Jack instead.

But she only murmured, "Goodbye, Jack," and walked down the gangplank with her ever doting fiance. It was then that he felt the first real pangs. It was then he felt himself die a little inside.

He curled up on the bed, boots, rum, and all, where her scent still lingered on the pillow. "You're going to be miserable without me, love," he muttered to himself, taking another long swig. _But so am I._ However, he had no doubt they would make do with themselves, no matter how miserable they felt inside. Because surviving was what something pirates did well, and they were both damn good pirates.

Elizabeth sat on a seaside rock, staring longingly out at the sea. A week had passed since Jack left her at Port Royal with her fiance. It was the path she'd chosen, but her heart screamed at her to run. _Come back for me_, she thought longingly, willing the sea to conjure up the sight of a ship with black sails on the horizon, coming straight for her. But no ship came.

She thought of her night with Jack, their passion, the pain she experienced and the ecstasy. He was no inexperienced lover; Jack knew exactly where to touch her, his fingers and mouth and body apologizing for whatever pain their physical love caused her. Not like Will, no, not at all.

It was only after the consummation of their love did Elizabeth become worried about the possibility of pregnancy. Acting on practicality, drawing Will even farther into her web of deceit, she seduced him on their return night. It was an easy task, even as she lied with her words and body. Though Will certainly entertained a higher moral code than most men, he was not above the perfectly human desire to know his betrothed's body. When she focused her attentions upon him, even he could not resist her charms. While they made love for the first time, she wished she could stop thinking about Jack.

What words had Jack whispered in her ear as he moved inside her? _My Pirate Queen. My Goddess of the Sea. _As it always did, the thought of Jack caused a shudder to run down her spine, a compilation of arousal and heartbreak. She imagined him returning to Port Royal for her, snatching her from her bed in the night and escaping to the Pearl. She wouldn't fight him, she would run with him, gripping his calloused hand in hers as they ran for the Pearl, their _freedom_.

Freedom was not what reality had in store for her, it seemed. Reality would see her a married woman within three days. _Save me from myself, Jack,_ Elizabeth whispered to the wind. _Come back for me. Please, come back for me. _

Like it? Hate it? Let me know what you think, please review!


	4. Chapter 4

a/n: Hello all! I want to thank all my reviewers, I very much appreciate the feedback!

4.

Seventeen Years Later

"De moon passed me hut many times since last you been here, Jack," said Tia Dalma with a blackened smile, setting a mug of mysterious liquid in front of her favorite pirate. "Of what service can I be to you?"

Jack wrapped his fingers around the mug, feeling the warmth through the clay. It felt soothing to his aging hands; more and more, they ached on cold mornings, as did his back, and a rib that hadn't healed exactly the way it should have. But for the silver streaks making their way into his pitch black dread locks and some lines at the corners of those dark eyes, one could hardly tell Jack stood on the greater side of fifty.

"I 'av an inquiry, of the dire sort."

"Aah." Tia Dalma sat gracefully down opposite of Jack, folding her smooth hands gracefully on the table before her. She, on the other hand, remained untouched by the hand of time. Jack wondered how she did it, but had no doubt she could defy such natural things as aging. "I sensed a bit of somtin' hanging heavy over that head of yours. Tell me, what ails Jack?"

"Not too long ago, I found myself pirating 'round the likes of Asian waters. Events led to this and that, ending in me being forced to spit a scoundrel like a fish fer tryin' to jump me and me mates in a Port Town. I won a ring he seemed a bit fond of in a game of cards, fair and square…" Tia Dalma shot him a knowing look, and he revised his tale, "Well, _almost _fair and square. Anyways, I killed the bastard, unwitting to meself he was the son of a particularly nasty sea witch."

This part caught Tia's attention; she leaned forward intently. "And how did you meet de sea witch?"

"She came to me, in a dream. That's why I'm here, seein' as maybe the whole thing was just my dreamin' noggin and not a stitch of reality at all, but it felt so real I can't be for certain like¾"

"And what did she say to you?" Tia interrupted his side tirade, knowing it could go on infinitely if she did not.

"Oh…" Jack looked around the room nervously. "She said that she didn't want the likes of me for her revenge, seein' as I'm getting' so ancient n all. She said she be wanting a replacement for her lost son, and therefore would take mine if he ever set foot on a ship near her sea. Now I wasn't too worried 'bout that, 'cause if she didn't want my own skin why should I care? And I don't think I even 'ave a son, really. But…"

Tia smirked, finding Jack's situation mildly comical, in the scheme of things. "Come now, Jack, tell Tia de trudth. We both be knowing you wouldn't care about any offspring o' yours, less he be of a very special woman to you."

Jack narrowed his kohl outlined eyes, but knew there was no sense lying to the voodoo priestess. There was one woman he still thought the world of, even though he hadn't seen her once since he watched her walk down the gang plank of the Pearl. He'd felt so sure at first that within the first year of living with the whelp in happily married misery she would hunt him down in Tortuga or some other port. But the years dripped away, leaving him a lonely man with only memories.

"Well? Can you tell me if I have a child with…" He hesitated to say her name, even that small thing still caused him a pang. Finally, he spit it out, cursing himself for being sentimental. "Elizabeth."

"And why don't you just go to Port Royal, and find dis ting out for yourself?"

Yes, why didn't he? Because when it came to this particular matter, he was a coward. What if he found her, and she _really was _happy with Will, with oodles of babies rolling around on the carpet? No, best stick with his own version of events, she being as unhappy as he in their separation.

"Because I'd rather not go without certainty of purpose."

Tia picked up her bones and sat before the symbols carved in the end of the table. She knew for all his games with women, he'd finally met one who cut him deep. Pity for Jack he lost her, but maybe a bit of karma. She tossed down the bones, carefully discerning where they landed, and how.

The silence seemed to ring in Jack's ears as thunder, and several eternities passed as he sat waiting for her answer. He wondered if she took so long just to spite him, to make him wait for the fateful answer. Finally, she looked up from her bones, mouth splitting in a black smile.

"Why Captain Sparrow, you be a father."

Jack's first thought? _I need rum. Lots of rum._

So, what do you think? Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

5.

Jack made his way through the docks, reminiscing on old times as he looked about. Not much had changed since the day he napped the Interceptor and sailed away all by his onesies. And well, he hadn't changed much either. He hoped no one recognized him in town; it could prove an obstacle he cared not to deal with. What kind of looks would he get, a piratey fellow such as himself asking after the Turner residence? After all the gossip that surely circled around the small port town about Elizabeth, Will, and their adventures with pirates…_bloody hell_.

It probably would have been best to wait for dark, but he'd finally worked up the courage to go ashore, and couldn't wait any longer.

Deep in his thoughts and engrossed in inspecting his surroundings, Jack roughly collided with another person, and fell back with a deeply surprised _oomph_. "I beg your pardon, sir, I wasn't watching where I walked." Jack looked up to see a young man in scrappy sailor's clothes holding out a hand to help him up from the ground. A closer inspection of the lad's hand surprised the pirate even more than the collision; there on his middle finger rested a heavily crafted ring of silver, a large sapphire set in the center, blue as the depths of the ocean.

Roughly, he grabbed the boy's hand, taking a closer look. "Hey¾"

_Without a doubt. _Ignoring the lad's protests, Jack demanded, "Where did you get this pretty trinket, boy?"

The boy, on the closer side of being a man really, tore his hand away from Jack's grasp. "If you must know, it was passed down to me by my father," he said, taken aback by the stranger's impertinence. Something wasn't right about this lad, thought Jack. His clothes were dirty like a laborer's, but his English dialect rang far too perfect to match.

"The hell it was," exclaimed Jack, springing to his feet, drawing his sword. "I'll have _you _know I gave that ring to a very special lady friend of mine. I don't know how you stole it, but I'll be havin' it back now."

The boy took a step back, and much to Jack's surprise, also drew his sword. "I think not."

Jack grinned, a baring of teeth that flashed gold in the sunlight. "You don't want to fight me, boy. Just give me the ring like a good lad."

The young man narrowed his dark brown eyes, and gave very little warning before lunging forward in a swift opening attack. Surprised, Jack parried the blow, a bit taken aback by the lad's brazen underhandedness. It didn't take long in the match for the pirate to realize that his adversary was very good. Very good indeed.

They sparred back and forth, slashing, stabbing, parrying blows that flew with a carefully controlled fury and filled the air with the sound of clanging metal. Jack felt his age, fighting an opponent so much younger, but still kept up. _Determined whelp_, he thought to himself as he dodged and parried two swift swipes aimed for his head. It was when more tricks entered the game that Jack felt the strain, dodging a barrel the boy kicked his way before immediately lunging forward again, giving little chance for recovery. _Damn this boy, _thought Jack, annoyed. _He fights like me._

Thinking how ridiculous and below the great Captain Jack Sparrow it seemed to be exchangin' blows with a lad less than twice his age, he decided to end the silly affair. Noticing a piece of sail scrap on the side of the path, he swiped at the boy and picked up the sail, tossing the canvas over his opponent's un-expecting head. By the time the lad managed to disentangle himself, he only found himself looking down the blade of Captain Jack Sparrow. "Now about that ring, lad," said Jack quietly, having already drawn enough attention.

Defiantly, the boy glared at the pirate. "Are you really going to run me through here in broad daylight, in front of all these people, over a piece of silver?"

"As I mentioned before, mate, it's got a bit of sentimental value attached t'it"

Jack met the boy's glare, intending to stare the whelp down to his proper place. But the boy met Jack's gaze fearlessly, his intense dark eyes unwavering, even laughing in a way, as though he knew something the pirate didn't. Wordlessly, they seemed to echo _do your worst, if you can. _There was no doubt something eerily familiar in those young eyes; it gave Jack an uneasy feeling, deep in the pit of his stomach.

"John!" A raised voice interrupted their standoff, and the sound of it struck Jack like a blow, shaking his body and going straight to his heart. He hadn't been called by his proper Christian name in decades. Though he knew he shouldn't, he turned away from his captive opponent to the owner of that haunting voice, unable to resist.

"Elizabeth?"

There she stood, not ten feet away, in one of those pretty dresses he was so very fond of on her. With hands on her hips, eyes gone wild with surprise, and maybe even a little anger, she looked as though time never touched her. Perhaps it hadn't. A tremor ran through Jack, straight to his knees.

And then he felt the alarming sensation of cold steel resting against his throat. _Ah yes, the reason why I shouldn't 'av looked away from the lad. _

"John, what's going on?" she demanded.

Jack opened his mouth to speak, until he realized it wasn't he Elizabeth referred to. "This man seemed rather intent to steal the ring you gave me," said the lad, now John, hotly. "I can't say I had a mind to let him."

Jack glared at the young man. "Now 'old on a minute, you said your father gave you that ring¾"

"He gave it to my mother, who passed it on to me. Forgive me for not relating the entire history to a total stranger."

Just when Jack thought his world couldn't be tipped any farther askew at that moment, at the word _mother_ his heart sank to his stomach. Could this be Elizabeth's son? Which would mean…

John interrupted Jack's distracted thoughts, "What shall we do with him, mother?"

As Elizabeth stepped nearer to the two men with swords at each other's throats, Jack's heart leapt from his stomach to his throat. He couldn't tear his eyes from her, them being so deprived of that beautiful sight for far too long. Elizabeth placed her hands on both the boys' swords, gently pushing them down and away from throats.

"We shall greet him warmly, for he is a dear friend. John, allow me to introduce you to the great Captain Jack Sparrow. And Jack," Jack's heart thundered in his chest, for he knew what was coming from those lovely plump lips of hers. "Meet my son, John Turner." Turning those large brown eyes up to meet Jack's, Elizabeth bit her lip, a flood of words gathering in her head, needing to be spoken, but not in front of John. It took every ounce of the pirate's willpower to not draw her into his arms in a tight embrace, and kiss her senseless in front of the whole port.

"_You're _Jack Sparrow?" said John, awestruck. His mother raised him on the fantastic stories of the infamous captain, but he never thought he would meet the man in person.

"The one and only," said Jack, sheathing his sword. He wouldn't be needing that anytime soon, it seemed.

John followed suit, and held out his hand. "Then I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, but I'm afraid I'll still be keeping my ring." John smiled, a mischievous sideways grin that seemed just as much a baring of teeth. Elizabeth suppressed the sigh she felt in her chest; he had Jack's smile, and he'd never met the man once in his life.

"Keep it," said Jack, clasping the lad's hand. His grip was young and strong, hand calloused from work, or perhaps more likely, from his recent display of prowess, practice with a sword. Jack wondered vaguely if his mitt had once felt the same, if John was his flesh and blood. "I'm sure it's on good hand."

"Shall we go to the house?" suggested Elizabeth, wanting to get Jack out of plain view. He and John had made quite enough of a ruckus; the last thing they needed was for Jack to be carted off to jail. Although, for a brief moment, the thought of the adventure sparked Elizabeth's interest. But only briefly. What had the years done to her? What had they done to them all? She feared and looked forward to finding out.


	6. Chapter 6

-1A/N: Hello all! I want to thank all my reviewers, I appreciate the input very much! For some reason all the exclamation points on the previous chapter showed up as ¾ fractions…don't know what that's about. This is a short chapter, (sorry), but the next one should be a long one. Thanks and cheers!

6.

Things didn't quite add up, John knew, although in the Turner household it seemed they so rarely did. But nothing quite so exciting had ever happened there, as the famous Captain Jack Sparrow showing up in Port Royal, to pay a visit to his mother, no less.

_What just happened? _It wasn't often that John Turner, an extremely intelligent young man, felt so confused. He disliked the sensation. The events of the day ran over in his head. He'd fought the legendary pirate, and of course lost, although he gave the man a good run of it. The only reason he'd gained an even situation with Jack was because of his mother providing a distraction. He still remembered the look on the pirate's face at hearing his mother's voice; it wasn't exactly just a friendly look of surprise. It was longing, pure and simple, mixed in with some other things. Pain, perhaps, and astonishment.

So what would cause a pirate like Captain Sparrow to look at a lady such as his mother in such a way? What indeed. He'd been raised on the legends of Jack Sparrow, he'd heard the reverence in his mother's voice with every telling. And he was now sure there were stories not fit to tell him.

And then, among other things, was the ring. He looked to the large sapphire upon his finger, a prized gift from his mother. She'd presented it to him not terribly long ago, when he'd first began to turn from boyhood to becoming a man. _Your father gave this to me, John. I think it will fit you better. _They'd shared a conspiratorial grin, for they loved secrets dearly between each other. He was only now just beginning to realize what that secret was.

A medley of emotions mixed in John's body; anger, confusion, excitement, among other things. All his life he'd been raised as John William Turner, when perhaps he should have been John Sparrow. No wonder she'd rejected his requests as a young boy to be called Jack. How could his mother deceive him? How indeed. He wondered if Will Turner knew what he was getting himself into, when he married such a soul as his mother. What did this change in him? He didn't know. It seemed everyone who'd ever told him about who he was could have been lying, if even his own mother did.

It wasn't easy being a young man, teetering between independence and his parent's nest. He felt an urge to get away, to go somewhere to hear his own soul, to feel who he truly was underneath the constructed veneer. Looking out his window, out to the rolling sea he loved so dearly, he knew what needed to be done.

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	7. Chapter 7

-1**Thanks to all my reviewers!**

7.

After young John went up to bed, Elizabeth and Jack sat at the dining room table staring across at each other, so much to say and no idea where to start. An invisible barrier stood between them, and Jack's insides tingled with the urge to rip it down, to take her in his arms and never let go again.

"Would you care to take a walk on the beach?" asked Elizabeth, desperate to escape the stuffy house that had once been her father's. She didn't expect Will back from a business voyage until the following night. Over the years he'd become quite a renowned and collected sword smith; he traveled all over Europe delivering his work. This kept him away from home often, which Elizabeth guiltily was grateful for. Secretly, she was sure that Will too was happy to get away.

"That would be agreeable," answered Jack, pushing out the intricately carved chair to stand. Although eating on fine china could be a fun novelty, he never felt entirely comfortable with it, unless he'd stolen it himself.

They walked to the beach in silence. Elizabeth wore a cloak to shield from the cold, it whispered around her with the soft sea breeze. Not able to stand the silence any longer, Jack said, "So who taught John how to handle a sword so fiercely, love? You, or Will?"

Relieved to hear something besides the forlorn sound of waves breaking on the sand, she replied, "I did. Will was hardly ever home, with his swords in such high demand. He still isn't."

Jack felt awkward, feeling partly responsible for the notes of sadness in her voice. Why hadn't he come sooner, taken her, and even the babe away, when they were still young? "I'm…sorry."

"I'm not really," she admitted, suspecting he was apologizing for more than what was said, but ignoring for the time. "I can't say we've had a terribly happy marriage, though not a bad one. Ever since we disembarked from the Pearl, it felt as though some sort of barrier were between us, unspoken words hanging in the air neither of us could neither say nor identify. And as time passed and John grew, we drifted farther apart than we already were."

Though he never said a word, Elizabeth was sure Will knew John was not theirs, but she and Jack's. The more John grew, the more he resembled his true father, in both looks and mannerisms. Still, because Will was far more a saint than Elizabeth could ever hope to be, he never showed any sign of resentment to the boy, and loved him as dearly as his own.

"You raised…a fine young man, Elizabeth." _Our son._ Although he was getting more accustomed to the fact, it still seemed to catch in the pirate's throat. Jack recalled their delightful dinner: the boy's charming wit and sharp tongue made amusing company for a pirate. He smiled to himself, remembering John sneaking zips from the rum carafe while his mother wasn't looking, winking at Jack whilst he committed the act. He also recollected a strange sort of pride welling in his breast, when he told a few of his newest outlandish stories, and the boy listened so intently. John even shared a few of his own, of which by Elizabeth's expression, she'd never heard before herself.

Elizabeth sighed, crossing her arms to shield from the cold, and the chills caused by completely different reasons. She turned her eyes up to meet his, finding those dark eyes still captivated her, pulled at her heart strings. "I wanted you to be here, Jack. I wanted you to see your son grow. I knew he was yours, there was no doubt in my mind. "He was so clever and crafty and mischievous and no one could resist loving him for the wonderful boy he is. He loves the sea, more than anything else. Will took him to England once, and I remember how thrilled he was with the journey, how utterly infatuated with sailing across the ocean. And he would take the greatest pleasure in stealing things as a child, not just for the pleasure of having it, but to see if he could get away with it.

"Sometimes we would catch him with a piece of the good silver, or some trinket from the drawing room shelf, or even my jewelry, but lord knows what we didn't catch him with. Oh, and his lies! He lies like a silver tongued devil, without remorse, but he gives that irresistible grin an you can't help but forgive him…the girls already chase him up and down the wharf. It's impossible to keep him away from the docks, it always has been. Any time Will wanted help in the forge, John would disappear, and come home smelling like fish and sea salt and all sorts of things from the docks, pitching in a hand to the moored ships just for fun. He's a pirate, Jack. Scarier yet, he's not just a pirate, he's a pirate like you."

Jack closed his eyes, feeling dizzy for a moment, allowing the familiar smell of salt in the breeze to calm him. He wasn't quite sure how to define the emotions he felt at the moment, deep in his chest. The closest he could come to classifying them was regret. "I wish I'd known, love. I guess I always thought if you wanted me around, you would've found me. I just assumed you and Will was happy as ducks in a pond. Ask Gibbs 'ow many times he persuaded me out of storming Port Royal, after I'd had a bit too much rum."

Elizabeth laughed, but it leaned closely to resembling a half-sob. Tentatively, she reached up to trace the lines of Jack's face, a visage she'd missed so sorely. The only real signs of the years past were streaks of silver coming through his jet black dreads, and the faint wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. Jack found himself closing his eyes again, savoring her touch. "I can't tell you how many times I walked this beach at night, wishing to see the Pearl ease into the docks under the cover of darkness. I told the wind to tell you I wanted you; I guess you never got the message.

Unable to stand it any longer, Jack pulled Elizabeth to him, reveling in the warmth of her body against his, the long missed sensation. "And why no more babes for you and young Will? He's not _really _a eunuch, is he?"

Elizabeth laughed; the sound was muffled against his chest, where she'd happily buried her head. "No, I'm afraid not. I've always assumed there were certain complications after John's birth that prevented such things. We never paid it much mind, though, with John being such a handful. I once had nightmares of him being twins. But what can one expect, from the son of Captain Jack Sparrow?"

Jack smiled to himself, resting his head atop hers. "You mean, the son of Captain Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann."

"I'm not a Swann anymore, Jack," she said wistfully.

Jack leaned back to look at her, cocking one eyebrow mischievously. "You couldn't tell by me, love."

So happy to see Jack again, not sure how long this guilty pleasure would be around, Elizabeth rested her head in the bend of his neck, inhaling deeply. He still smelled the same, of sweat and the sea, of spices and of course rum. Time may have begun to turn his hair silver, but it didn't seem to have touched his still lithe body, so many years of climbing around a ship still keeping his muscles toned. She wanted to pull his body around hers like a blanket, and not come out again for a very long time.

"So why did you come back, Jack?" she dared ask.

Jack had been thoroughly enjoying the moment of holding her in his arms, and didn't want to end it to speak of his misfortune, and John's, with the sea witch. But it was the danger at hand, so reluctantly, he addressed it. "I had a run in with a scabby dog round abouts Asia, which led to a bit of a tussle, and me killing said dog. Turns out he 'ad a bit of a powerful witch for a mother. She sent me a dream, sayin' if me son ever set foot on a ship over her sea, she'd take 'im for herself. Now I didn't think I 'ad a son, but just in case I went to pay a visit to Tia Dalma…and here I am, love."

Elizabeth pulled back, eyes wide with alarm. "Oh God, Jack, John will never _leave_ the sea once he gets the chance! What should we do? Did Tia Dalma say?"

"We'll figure out something, love," Jack assured her. "He's not going anywhere now, so we 'ave time."

The pair walked back to the house, enjoying holding each other's hand in the dark. As silent as sneaking pirates can be, they slipped into the house, and padded down the hall to Elizabeth's bedroom. But in their stealthy walk through the house, they failed to notice a small chest resting on the dining room table, with a note resting atop it addressed to _Mother._

There they stood, silent once again, eyes questioning each other without a word. _Will she invite me in_, Jack wondered? _Do I really need an invitation? _He could see her hesitance, probably thinking of Will finding them together.

"Jack…" Elizabeth broke the silence, and spoke quietly, eyes traveling everywhere around . "I've already betrayed Will so harshly, and he'll be back tomorrow…" Her heart screamed at her, cursed her for uttering the words, when the man she loved so dearly stood before her after so many years.

Jack's heart dropped to his feet. "As you wish, love," he said sorrowfully, catching her meaning. Hooking a finger under her chin, he turned her face up to his. "But whether it be Will or yourself, you'll always be betrayin' someone in this mess. It's the way it is, it seems." Because he couldn't restrain himself any longer, Jack slid his long fingers into her hair, gripping the base of her skull to pull Elizabeth's mouth to his. His lips slid across hers so delectably, tongue teasing her own, a slick wetness between her lips.

Something broke in Elizabeth; what ever walls of propriety she'd built over the years to restrain her true nature came crashing down to the wave of passion she felt for Jack at that moment. With one hand finding the warmth at the base of his neck, and the other gripping his vest, she pulled his body against hers, deepening the kiss, as though she wanted to drink down every touch she'd missed over the years in a single moment. The motion rocked Jack off balance, sending them crashing into the wall. Feeling Jack's body pressing her into the wall behind her, his lips on her skin and his hands on her body, Elizabeth cared not about the noise they made, at least for the moment.

No longer willing to take no for an answer, Jack scooped Elizabeth up in his arms and carried her to her room, kicking the door shut with a booted foot. The action reminded them both of their first night together, and both were determined to have a second.

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	8. Chapter 8

-18.

It was as Elizabeth and Jack sat down, rather late in the day, to breakfast that Elizabeth noticed the small chest resting at the end of the table. She recognized it as a gift she'd given to John as a small boy. Curious what he could possibly be up to now, she drew it in front of her, clasping the note addressed to _Mother_ in two long fingers. A sense of foreboding washed over her as she broke the seal of the letter.

_Dearest Mother, _

_I am sure you will agree upon finishing this letter, but for certain people's sake, it would be best to keep the following words in confidence between us. I will begin with this: from a somewhat early age, I'd had the suspicion that Will Turner may indeed not be my father. Not because of any way either of you acted towards me, or you to each other, but because I am an intelligent individual and pieced together certain clues. Because I was a young boy and a complete rascal, I would often go through your things out of curiosity and for the thrill of it. Perhaps you are well of this, but I was never punished, so I assumed my intrusion went undetected into a certain cache of letters you keep in a walnut box deep in the bottom drawer of your bureau. Yes, I picked the lock as well, I am a rotten son. _

_I felt like my world was turned upside down, and knew in my heart the only course of action open to me. I feel as though I suddenly do not know myself, and know I will find the answer on the sea. I've longed for her for too long. Looking to you, and my now apparent paternal bloodline, I find this with little surprise in regards to my character. I hope someday I will get to know my infamous father, I'm sure he's a man well worth knowing. But for now, I must see to myself, the sea is calling my name with her salty breeze. _

_I want you to know I do not think less of you for what our pious society would consider an unforgivable discretion; what the church forgets about all of us is that we are merely flesh and bone human, and I am sure choices were placed before you I cannot fathom at this point in my life. You've always done your best by me, and I love you so very much. Until we meet again, your loving son, _

_John William Turner Sparrow_

Jack watched Elizabeth turn pale with reading the letter, and he barely had time to ask, "What's wrong?" before she bolted from her seat and tore up the stairs to John's room. "John?" she shouted, but knowing what she would find behind the closed door. The room lay empty, some of the drawers cleaned out, left askew.

"What's going on, love?" asked Jack, resting hands on her heaving shoulders.

"John. John's run away, Jack, to the sea. We've got to go to the docks, someone has to know where he's set off to."

Not taking time for hysterics, just the business at hand, Elizabeth went to her room to dress. Although she never let Will know it, she always kept a costume of men's clothing at hand, and it was this she donned now. Although she'd paid it no mind last night, being distracted by other long-due pleasures at hand, Elizabeth noticed her jewelry box lid was slightly askew. She had no doubt John had pillaged some of his mother's jewelry to fund his trip. Shaking her head, she smiled to herself. _Pirate. _

"Coming?" she asked a bewildered Jack as she walked swiftly past him. Not wanting to get left behind, he quickly followed.

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	9. Chapter 9

9.

Will Turner entered his home, bundle of swords under his arm, to find a surprising and confusing scene before him. A disarray of several bags and a large trunk were strewn about the foyer. He furrowed his brow, recognizing them all to belong to his wife.

"What else will I need?" called the familiar voice from upstairs.

"You've awlredy packaged up 'alf the bloody house!" Will's eyebrows shot up with surprise at seeing yet another familiar figure turn the corner into the foyer; a figure he did not love quite so dearly. The confusion upon Will's face turned quite quickly to anger when he saw Jack in his house.

Jack paused, also taken aback. "Ah…'ello Will."

"What a pleasant surprise, to find a pirate in my home." Will's voice went low, filled with venom and years upon years of accumulated resentment. He tossed the bundle of swords to the ground, save one. "The infamous Jack Sparrow, no less." The singing sound of Will's sword leaving its sheath caused Jack's eyes to widen with alarm.

"I can explain, mate," he said, just as Will lunged forward with a deadly swipe. Jack barely managed to dodge, and saw the moment as his queue to run.

"Explain what?" hissed Will, chasing Jack around the large dining room table. "That you've finally come back to steal away my wife? Because that's the only explanation that comes to mind, seeing all her bags waiting to go in the foyer."

Jack and Will stood at either end of the table, glaring across at each other. Jack wanted to tell Will that was exactly what he intended to do, that he should have done it a long time ago. He wanted to berate the eunuch for being a coward, for trapping Elizabeth with his emotional dependency, even if it wasn't exactly fair or entirely true.

"I'm not here to steal your Bonny lass," said Jack, pointing his cutlass at Will emphatically. "If you would jus' calm down a bit, we could 'ave a parley, civilized like an' all."

Hearing the ruckus, Elizabeth raced downstairs just in time to see Will and Jack staring each other down across the table. "Will!"

Will ignored his wife, gaze fixed only upon the intruder before him. "And miss the chance I've been longing for all these years, to slit you knickers to nose?" he demanded of Jack. "I don't think so!" Will pushed the table forward, forcing Jack to jump out of the way yet again. He pounced upon the pirate, sword working furiously at finding its target. Jack fought with all his skill, and the blade of the infuriated blacksmith may have been the end of any other opponent.

"Will, stop!" demanded Elizabeth, to no avail. Seeing the boys had once again decided to solve their differences with swords rather than reason, she knew she would have to take it upon herself.

Will flipped Jack's sword from his hand, and upon advancing on the pirate was extremely surprised to find himself at the end of a blade he'd crafted himself.

"I should have known you would chose to side with the pirate over your loving husband," he said deadpan, looking resentfully to the woman who held the sword.

"It's not what you think, Will."

"And why would I have reason to think it, Elizabeth? Coming home to you dressed in your sailor's costume again, your bags in the foyer ready to go?"

"If you would stop and listen to a stitch of reason, instead of immediately jumping in to trying to kill him, you would find out that Jack was kind enough to come to inform us of some rather alarming news involving John," she hissed.

This caught Will's attention. "What about John?" He looked around, just realizing for the first time that such a commotion should have brought the boy running, most probably with great excitement. "Where _is _John?"

"Well, to date, the boy 'as decided to take to the sea aboard the _Explorer._"

Will's eyes widened with alarm. "The Explorer? The last trade ship in the Carribean not with the East India Trading Company? They'll be headed to¾"

"The Japans," interjected Jack, "Of which we just found out this morning from the Port Master."

"Which is why I'm packing to leave," explained Elizabeth heatedly, sword lowered. "They've only got a day ahead of us, if we leave with the tide."

"The Pearl's still the fastest ship in the Spanish Main, we'll catch them in no time," assured Jack.

Will glared at Jack, once again pointing his sword in the pirate's direction. "And what's to keep us from turning you in to the Constable, and taking it upon ourselves to fetch John?"

Jack smirked, tapping at Will's sword in a playful way that greatly annoyed the blacksmith. "Because by then it'll be too late to save the boy. Fact o' the matter is you need the Pearl, and therefore need me. Savvy?"

Will looked to his wife. "Too late for what?" he asked, wary of what mischief the pirate had no doubt brought with him.

"Jack has reason to believe that if John sets foot on a ship anywhere near the Japans, he'll be taken prisoner by a sea witch."

Will paid Jack an incredulous look. "And just how did Jack come upon this information?"

Elizabeth and Jack exchanged a look, racking their brains as to how to avoid the inevitable confrontation of the truth about John for the moment. "She came to me in a dream," explained Jack, not entirely lying.

Will lowered his sword, and took a step closer to Jack. "A dream about John? Why _you_?" asked Will suspiciously. Elizabeth knew that tone of voice; she knew this was only the calm before the storm.

Jack too sensed much more lay behind the loaded question. His black eyes met Will's, and a multitude of emotions passed between them that could not be expressed quite so clearly. Pain. Regret. Resentment.

He'd endured the suspicion for years; months and months of the ache in his breast, the uncertainty eating away at his mind. He decided right there and then in the dining room that the dishonesty would continue no longer. Suddenly, Will threw down his sword so it thrummed in the hard wood floor, causing both Elizabeth and Jack to jump. Will exclaimed in a pained voice, "If no one else has the courage for the truth here, then I'll tell you why. I've¾"

"Will…"

Will held up a hand to silence Elizabeth. This turmoil had built up within him for so long, and now he needed to release it. "I've suspected for quite some time that John's…paternal blood was not of my own. From the start there were only little signs; I just wrote them off as jealous suspicions in my head. The ring he so obviously gave you, the look you shared as we departed from the Pearl…and don't think I couldn't guess what you thought about, taking those long evening walks down by the shore. Your eyes were always so red and swollen when you returned…But now, it's a hard fact to deny, isn't it? He's the spitting image of Jack, with the cracks filled in by you."

Will whirled on the pirate, pointing a finger like a dagger. "So I don't know precisely when, but you had your way, the way you always do. And you dumped the consequences on others, the way you always do. I've raised your son as though he were my own, and I love him like my own. The moment I held the babe in my arms and his little fingers wrapped around mine, I knew I wanted to be apart of his life."

Jack glared down Will's finger. "I doubt you'll believe it, but if I'd known about the boy, I would have come for him."

Will scoffed at the pirate. "Bloody liar. You wouldn't do any such thing that would inconvenience yourself."

Jack's expression darkened, and he surprised himself with the honest resolve he felt behind the words that left his lips. "I would have spirited the boy and his mother away in the middle of the night without a thought for you. The boy¾"

"You wouldn't have done anything of the sort, you lying¾"

"I would have!" shouted Jack angrily, pointing one ringed finger in Will's direction. "He would have grown up among the rigging and crow's nest and crew of the Pearl, and I would have been a happy man to watch my son grow up into the man he is today."

Will sneered. "Under your influence I doubt he would _be _the man he is today. I doubt he would have survived his first year on the Pearl; a pirate ship's no place for a young child."

"Sticks and stones," scoffed Jack. "But it seems the boy turned into a pirate of sorts, even without me 'round. It's in the blood, and whether you like it or not, it's in his mother."

Will visibly winced at that; it was true he tried to believe as much as he possibly could that Elizabeth would always be the sweet girl he first fell in love with, so long ago. The changes she underwent in their adventures with the pirate were almost too much to bear; he'd blocked them out from his vision. Over time, he began to see that perhaps this was a mistake, but after the ring upon her finger had been placed, it seemed too late to do anything about it. "Maybe. And because of you, John is in mortal danger. You bring ruin to everyone around you, Jack."

"Both of you, stop it," demanded Elizabeth, intent on quelling their rage at each other, knowing the matter at hand required their immediate attention. "No doubt, there have been injustices done to all of us, all of which cannot be taken back now. However, grievances aside, my son has unwittingly placed himself in a great amount of danger, and I intend to deliver him from it immediately. Time is not on our side, gentlemen."

"She's right," said Jack. "If we're goin' t' fetch the lad, we 'ave a need to be departin' shortly."

Will looked between the two of them. "Where I am reluctant to set foot on that damnable pirate ship once again, I insist on accompanying you; John is just as much mine as he is yours."

"Then pack quickly, Will," urged Elizabeth. "We'll wait for you."

Without another word, Will brushed past the two of them to retreat upstairs. Elizabeth and Jack looked to each other mournfully; it seemed many an awkward day awaited them with Will on board the Pearl, to save a son not his by blood at all.

"What a mess, love," said Jack, somehow expressing both sincerity and his trademark sarcasm in one breath.

"So it seems," she agreed, looking to the window facing the sea wistfully. Perhaps selfishly, she looked forward to the adventure ahead, even if her son was in great danger. _And that's why you're really a pirate _a voice within whispered. For once, she didn't argue one bit.

**A/N: Thanks so much to all my reviewers! I appreciate any and all feedback, even criticism!! And as for the many of you who don't review….you should start! It'll only take a few seconds, I promise…. Please?**


	10. Chapter 10

-1**A/N: See what I do when I should be doing homework? What a bloody mess...lol. Enjoy!**

10.

The Pearl departed Port Royal, laden with new passengers, old friends but long not heard from. As the sun set, Will climbed the steps to join Jack at the helm. Jack eyed his rival wearily, not entirely trusting the boy.

"If you owe me anything, Jack, it's the truth. What exactly have you gotten John into?"

Jack paid him a sliding glance. "In my defense, I 'ad no idea the boy existed at the time. That aside, I 'ad a bit of a row wit this sea witch's whelp, which regrettably and unavoidably ended in me killing him. Ripe for revenge, the witch nextly threatened to take me own."

Will's scowl darkened as Jack related the tale. "And just how did you find out about him?"

"Tia Dalma offered a spot o' aid wit that."

Jack could feel the weight of Will's gaze upon him. "And so you next selflessly went in search of us, to warn of John's plight? I never pegged you for such a hero."

"M'no hero," grumbled Jack, wishing the troublesome lad would go away. He glanced down to the main deck, to Elizabeth at the rail, staring out at the open sea. Her hair flew about wildly, unbound golden locks mesmerizing in the breeze. He did not mean to gaze so long, and his wandering eyes did not go unnoticed by her doting husband.

"No, you're no hero, Jack. You are most decidedly a pirate. Which makes me wonder why you would bother with any sort of family affairs. It makes me wonder what exactly you plan to get out of it, as you always do."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Does it look like there's anything in for me, lad? Now that I know about the boy, I guess I recon' I should at least try to do right by him."

The blacksmith quirked a skeptical eyebrow. "Out of the goodness of your heart? I don't believe you."

"Don't have to," snapped Jack in reply, growing irritated by Will's presence.

"All you know is thievery," Will continued on. "But I will have you know I won't allow you to steal my family."

As Will turned to go, Jack grumbled under his breath, "Stole your girl years ago, mate."

Hand on the hilt of his sword, half drawn from its scabbard, Will whirled on Jack, only to find the captain was inevitably quicker. He stared down the barrel of a pistol, hammer pulled back in full readiness for destruction. "How dare--"

"And furthermore I'm afraid the lad was already mine," said Jack.

"You were never there for him."

"Sounds to me like you weren't either." The two men stood at an impasse, two pairs of dark eyes challenging each other. "None of this is fair to you Will, I'm a bit sorry for that. But I have full intention of rescuing John, and I won't tolerate any blundering. If you ever dare to draw on me again on _my _ship, I will not hesitate to toss you in the brig for the rest of the voyage, or drop you off at the next port. Savvy?"

Glaring daggers at the unyielding sea captain, Will sheathed his sword, giving a terse nod before retreating down the stairs.

With a sigh Jack shoved his pistol in his sash once again, and wished he had a bottle of rum handy to nurse. He glanced once more down at Elizabeth, to see she was looking right at him. Their eyes met across the deck, and he knew she'd witnessed his standoff with her not-so-darling Will. He wasn't sorry a bit, and by the look in her eyes, she wasn't either.

"Is he going to be too much trouble, Jack?" asked Elizabeth as he joined her at the railing.

Jack shrugged. "S'not an easy position to be in, I'd imagin'. I'm sure the lad will exercise some self control from now on."

"And if he doesn't?"

Not entirely sure what Elizabeth alluded to, Jack asked, "Well love, what if?"

She turned those lovely eyes to meet his. It had been far too long since he'd been able to look into those eyes. Far too long. However, there was something slightly different there, than what he remembered. Almost as though time and age and worry for her son had infused into her gaze, manifesting in those honey brown irises. Jack felt a small chill take him, starting at the base of his spine. "Then I want you to know I won't object to any measure you may deem _necessary_, Captain Sparrow," she said coldly.

Jack suddenly understood. His Lizzy was now a mother willing to do anything to protect her offspring. If that included leaving the father behind, it was apparently fine by her. Fearless Lizzy, willing to do whatever was necessary.

"Let's hope it doesn't come down to that," he said quietly, brushing his fingers against hers before making to retreat into his cabin. The skin where his fingers had brushed burned with longing, and unexpected and tormenting reminder of who she really wished she'd spent her young life with. _The past is the past_ she reminded herself.

_Nothing to do about it now but live. _She would worry about herself, once she knew John was safe. But when would a boy like that every truly be safe? Never, truly. He was too much like his father, and too much like her. Someone had once told her that having a child was like having your heart walk around outside of your body. She'd never understood it quite so perfectly until that moment, longing for the boy to be safe on the decks of the Pearl.

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	11. Chapter 11

-1**Because you've all been so wonderfully patient, I present this seemingly ridiculously long chapter, of which I've forgone homework to bring to you. So, I hope you enjoy, me hearties!**

11.

Feet propped up upon his desk, Jack pulled a folded note from his vest pocket, paper yellowed with age and creased, and though it had been read and re-folded over and over again. He had snatched it from the chest of things John stole from his mother; for some reason it had caught his eye, piqued his curiosity. Suspecting Elizabeth would not want him to read it, he'd pocketed it upon first chance. Better to ask forgiveness than permission.

The script was fine and slanted, a lady's practiced handwriting. Addressed, but not incriminatingly signed. It read,

_My Dearest Jack, _

_I am to be married tomorrow, I fear to entirely the wrong man. My thoughts of you bring me to the bluffs every evening, hoping to catch a glimpse of black sails on the horizon approaching Port Royal. I entertain a fantasy in my mind of you storming the ceremony, sweeping me away from the altar and down to the Pearl, where we would sail away and never look back. Ridiculous, I know. If I truly had any courage, I would seek you out myself, and not wait for my hero to whisk me away like a wilting flower. _

_However, I'm afraid there are other considerations afoot. A babe grows within my womb now, and I am certain Will is not the father. Quite frankly, I'm terrified of being a mother, but the thought of you rejecting us should I find you scares me even more. I would never ask you to give up your freedom for me. As much as the idea amuses me, a young child running about the deck on bare feet and climbing the rigging, sensibly I know a pirate ship is no place for a child. We could teach him swordplay, how to properly execute a string of epithets, and swill rum. No, certainly no place for a child at all. _

_I long for you and the freedom of the Pearl. I long for those long clever fingers to explore my body again, and I crave to explore yours in turn. I keep a map in my head of your sun-darkened skin and fascinating scars, the nerves that will cause you to twitch, and where a gentle touch draws a sigh from those delectable rum-swilling lips of yours. I miss your smile, Jack Sparrow, the one that suggests you know something about me that I do not. I suppose I may never get to find out. _

_The thought saddens me more deeply than I could possibly ever convey. You are a forbidden drug coursing like fire through my veins, an opiate I could never ever get enough of. Every moment with you excites me to a point of exhilaration Will could never dream of accomplishing. It isn't fair to compare you, for Will is wonderful in his own safe way. But after tasting freedom, it is your brand of love I crave. Damn the cruelty of fate, but I love you, Jack Sparrow._

Jack refolded the letter and tossed it to his deck, groaning. It was not a physical pain he felt in his chest, but a both desirous and regretful ache. There was an unfamiliar stinging in his eyes, the first sign of welling tears he would not allow to fall. How would things be different, if he himself were not such a coward? There was no way to know now, and really no sense in thinking about it. Perhaps he should lock Will in the brig after all, and he and Elizabeth could come and go from his cabin as they pleased.

_Too easy, Jack_, he told himself. _Not quite as much fun. _Although he did not particularly plan on tormenting the whelp, the wicked thought did cross his mind. His mind wandered to other things. What adventure had he missed, in being absent of the raising of his boy? He reflected back of Elizabeth's letter. _We could teach him swordplay, how to properly execute a string of epithets, and swill rum. _

The thought pleased him greatly; he imagined a young tot among the rough salts of his crew, watching and playing and learning with childish glee, catching the young lad in his arms, holding him as they steered the Pearl together, small chubby hands barely able to grasp the wheel peg.

Rubbish, absolute rubbish, he scolded himself.

Wouldn't such a thought seventeen years ago have terrified him? Certainly, without a doubt. Would he have stayed away because of it? It was hard to say. Old age had not softened him, but it did bring about idle thoughts about heirs to carry on one's blood at times. He didn't long for a warm spot to curl up in ashore just yet, thank God.

There was a faint knock on the door, and without waiting for invitation it cracked open, admitting Elizabeth carrying a tray of food. Jack eyebrows shot up with surprise at seeing her within his cabin. "Hello, Jack," she said, eyes moving about the cabin wistfully. No doubt, she was remembering the last time she'd entered the captain's quarters, and the night shared between them.

"Ello, luv," he said, making to clear a space for his supper.

As she set down the tray, Elizabeth noticed a familiar scrap of yellowed paper folded up upon his desk. Before he could snatch it away, she took it up, opening it to confirm her suspicion. "This was in the trunk John left for me," she said quietly, scanning the letters, remembering the night she penned the words.

"Ah...yes it was," he acknowledged, fearing a bit of wrath for prying into her things. Elizabeth was as unpredictable as the ocean, anything was possible. "A pity it hadn't reached me sooner," he said gently, looking up to his lady love.

She shrugged those narrow shoulders, tossing it back to the desk. There was really no sense in keeping it private, at that point. "How exactly does one send post to a pirate?" she pondered wistfully, also wishing she'd gotten it to him sooner.

"It's difficult, but not impossible."

His eyes traveled over her, admiring the way the man's sea costume suited her. A sudden need to have her near took him over, and he held out his hand in invitation. "Come here, luv."

Elizabeth raised one sculpted eyebrow, caution written across her face. "We should be careful, Jack," she said quietly. "My husband is aboard; there is no calling for unnecessary cruelty."

Jack huffed. "Our separation is an unnecessary cruelty of the worst kind, Elizabeth."

She sighed, breath drawing a slow shudder through her body. Giving in to the call they both seemed to hear so clearly, she took Jack's hand, allowing him to draw her into his lap. "Why did I ever let you off my ship?" he whispered into her hair, inhaling deeply. Having her so close, inhaling her sweet scent made him feel dizzy, as though it were too good to be reality, all a dream.

"Because I asked you to," she responded, feeling a sob clench in her throat, of which she did not allow escape. His strong arms around her, anchoring her to him, was almost too much to bear; she dreaded the inevitable necessity to stand once again. Will would grow suspicious, should she linger in Jack's cabin for too long.

"Then we're both fools." As Jack gently brushed the tip of his nose against her cheek, she agreed wholeheartedly.

"We're cut throats and rascals and really bad eggs," she whispered, planting a gentle kiss upon his bronzed forehead.

Jack trembled at her touch. "Drink up, me hearties, yo ho," he whispered back, daring to brush his lips against hers. Such an intense need to feel her bare skin against his surged over him, that he barely restrained himself from sweeping her over to the bed, Will be damned.

Feeling his lips against hers was a breaking point of sorts for Elizabeth; she bowed to the desire, pulling him to her with one finger at his jaw. The kiss enveloped them both in a blanket of smothering desire. The feel of teasing tongue and nibbling teeth on aching lips slowly unraveled them both, until nothing remained but a brutal honesty, a true love and need.

Jack's hand found its way beneath her shirt, clever fingers moving up, sending chills through her body as it came to rest between her breasts. He reveled in the pulsation of her heart thundering in her chest, fluttering against his hand. Her hand went to press above his, only fabric betwixt them. With a superhuman amount of effort she pulled away from his tantalizing kiss to look into those smoldering dark eyes, holding his hand above her heart.

"A pirates life for me," she whispered above his lips, before standing to flee. His fingertips caressed her skin as she drew away, and she deeply regretted leaving him. With one more glance back at Jack, she slipped out the door.

Taking a deep breath, Jack gripped the arms of his chair, the old wood creaking from the strength of his assault upon it. Slowly, he let it out, trying to use a calming method an old Yogi in India had once taught him. Breath in life, and exhale fear. It didn't work that time, for he was still terrified of losing her all over again.

As Elizabeth walked away, she heard a muffled curse and the crash of some object being thrown across the room within. She too wished she could break something. Something large and expensive that would make a satisfying crash upon the boards of the deck. But no such thing existed aboard the Pearl within her grasp, so she settled for retreating to the bow of the ship, tears welling up. She did not realize a pair of eyes watched her retreat from the shadows.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"'Tis a ship with black sails," said the old salt mysterious to the group of men gathered around him. "They say she's a ghost ship, and an unsuspecting crew will never see her coming in the dark of night. The Black Pearl is captained by a man who cannot die, the Immortal Jack Sparrow."

John listened to the tale with a whimsical smile. He fought the urge to elaborate with his own story. _I once crossed swords with Jack Sparrow, and beat him too. _Well, it was almost true. He wouldn't have, without the distraction of his mother. That certainly seemed to be a disabling way to distract the man; it was written all over Jack's face. Love, blind and blazing. Well, John was never one to let truth get in the way of a good story.

It still seemed impossibly strange to think of the man as his father, no matter how the facts seemed to add up. He'd glanced in the mirror at dinner as he and Sparrow spoke; the resemblance between them _was_ uncanny. It seemed some chance turn of luck that John longed for the sea so strongly, and so willfully detested blacksmithing. Could such things truly run in blood? Perhaps, but it didn't really matter.

The fact was, he was having the time of his life aboard the Explorer. Perhaps he'd been raised a gentleman, but hard work sat well with him. John took pride in earning an honest day's meal, and he found living aboard a ship the most exhilarating experience of his life. Knots and rigging and trimming sails all came as second nature to him; it seemed there to be nothing more natural than cutting through the water on this great boat. What smacked more of perfect freedom, than sailing aboard a ship? Very little else he could think of.

Someday he would have his own ship, he mused. That would be the _perfect _freedom; being captain truly meant choosing one's own destiny, along with that of the crew. He even hoped to one day sail with his father aboard the Pearl. It very well couldn't be a ghost ship, because Jack Sparrow had arrived solid as anything in Port Royal. Such aspirations could come later; for now he would throw himself into learning the finer points of running a ship. Such skills would make him an invaluable member of the crew, and the more skills one wielded, the better chances of being elected as captain of a ship.

Indeed, life simply seemed too sweet to be true. He hoped his mother wouldn't fret too much. After all, he was only doing exactly what she would have, had she been free to do so. After reading her letters to Jack, John had often marveled at the sense of loyalty his mother must have felt to himself. Even with a child at home, he knew the waves must have tempted her many a night to duck and run, making for the great love she found on the water and in the pirate Jack Sparrow.

No doubt, she was a great woman, that mother of his. Now that he'd been aboard a ship for almost a week's time, his thoughts had cleared, and his spirits rose. He hoped that now he was gone, perhaps his mother would have a chance at finding that great happiness again that she'd once felt with Jack Sparrow. Albeit a bit late, the pirate must have come back for a reason, and it was blatantly obvious what the pair felt for each other.

It felt strange to think of his mother's infidelity so casually, so scientifically. However, as much as he loved the man he'd called father all his life, Will Turner, he felt he now knew something perhaps neither of his parents, biological and otherwise, realized. He'd never seen his mother so happy, as the night Jack graced their dinner table, and to him that meant it was they who should be together.

Some children cling to the idea of their parents' love, in a way drawing their own happiness from it. However, he could not recall any such moments between his mother and William that stuck in his memory as the two being blissfully happy together. Most of his fond young memories were simply of he and his mother playing alone. How many mothers will play sword fighting with their sons, teaching them fencing with sticks from the yard? Grandfather caught them once, and had barely restrained himself from throwing a fit; Weatherby settled for a lecture instead. Poor mother.

Wouldn't it be odd, to meet up with his mother once again aboard the Pearl someday, he thought to himself. Indeed it would. Funny ol' world.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I didn't expect to find you on deck," said a familiar voice behind Elizabeth. She turned from her place at the railing, to find her husband standing behind her, strong arms crossed over his chest. The dark of night swathed Will in shadow, and Elizabeth felt strangely unnerved by his sudden presence.

"Why not?" she asked cautiously, trying to gauge Will's mood and purpose. It wasn't as easy as it once was; time and travel had changed him a bit, and it seemed she was never able to catch up.

He shrugged. "No reason. It just seemed more likely you'd be in the Captain's cabin."

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed, but she conceded, "I suppose I deserve that."

Will went to lean against the railing beside her, turning his back on the sea. "That and so much more," he agreed, somewhat childishly. Now that he stood closer, Elizabeth could smell the sweet tang of rum in the air, carried on the breeze from him to her. Probably not a good sign.

"Have we been imbibing, Mr. Turner?"

Once again, her husband shrugged noncommittally, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "The whole rest of the crew seems to operate under the influence, why not I?" When Elizabeth quirked a skeptical eyebrow at him, he explained further. "Gibbs and I had quite a fine time preparing dinner tonight."

Funny, she hadn't noticed her husband drinking in the galley with Gibbs, when she'd gone to fetch the Captain's supper.

"I see."

That uncharacteristic smile widened a bit more. "I'm glad we can both be disappointed in each other, Miss Swann. I do enjoy sharing things with you; I'll take what I can get at this point."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. As though things weren't already complicated enough, throwing a vat of rum into the mix did not improve matters. Was Will in so much pain he felt it necessary to dull it with liquor? It was possible. "You haven't called me Miss Swann in ages, Will."

"It just seems fitting, is all," he commented, enigmatically. Elizabeth could count the times on one hand she remembered Will drunk; he was nearly as impossible as Jack, but not nearly as charming.

"And why is that?" she prodded, determined to get a complete thought out of the man.

"Because, you may be mine on paper and in name, but I don't think I ever really had you." She stood silent, contemplating his words. And because she believed him to be right, she remained silent. "Spot on, mmm?" Will continued, studying his wife. His eyes swept over her familiar form, and yet at the same time he felt he were perhaps standing next to a total stranger. Somehow the years seemed to have barely touched her; she was still as beautiful as ever. When had that happened? When had they lost track of each other? What did he do wrong?

"What if I'd been home more?" he asked, reaching up to brush her cheek with rough blacksmith's fingers. "Would you have fallen in love with me again? Would you have forgotten about the pirate then?"

Elizabeth looked down at her feet, taking a deep breath, not wanting to give an honest answer. Even if Will had been home, she probably just would have pushed him away. She didn't think there was any force of nature that could make her forget Jack Sparrow. Not the legend, but the man. The man who's so lovingly touched her, who fearlessly invited her into his world. Why did she ever leave?

"Probably not, Will," she finally answered. "You can't blame yourself for my...weaknesses."

Will paid her a longing gaze, and she could feel the weight of those warm brown eyes upon her. "I've made a decision, Elizabeth," he announced, voice once again cheerful. She had no idea how he could be so chipper, even with the influence of alcohol in his system. Moving far more quickly than she would have expected of him in his present state, Will placed an arm on either side of her on the railing, trapping her effectively.

"And what would that be?" she dared ask, as he openly eyed her lips. Even after all this, he still wants me, she thought to herself, bewildered. After all her betrayal and deceit, he still wanted to keep her.

"I'm going to win you back," he answered. "As soon as this mess with John is resolved and we save him from the sea witch so on and so forth like we always seem to do, I'm going to woo you again. You loved me once, Elizabeth, I daresay you could again."

"Will..."

"Shh," he said, placing a finger gently above her lips, "I was a fool to think I could ever keep you happy, being away so much. I realize now that the extra income simply wasn't worth losing the love of my life. I'm going to stay home now, and really take care of you. I'm going to feed you grapes all day and never let you leave the bed."

Elizabeth raised both her eyebrows at this, as much amused by his risqué suggestion as she was saddened. Somehow, Will had convinced himself that this was all his fault, and if he worked hard enough, he could fix it. She didn't know how to explain to him, at least not at that moment, that their relationship was not a sword; no matter how much he tried to reheat and shape it, it could never be the same again.

"You can't--" She tried to explain their plight once again, but Will quickly moved in, interrupting her with the most heartfelt kiss they'd shared in years. His tongue explored her gently, teasing her lips and sliding so slightly inside her mouth. His fingers slid into her hair, holding her lightly at the base of her skull while he tasted her.

It was such a surprise, and so much the opposite of Jack. For even when the pirate captain kissed her gently, there was always something of an edge to it, something that threatened to burn her. A desire, a need, as though he were pulling at her very soul, wanting to make off with it and cache it away in a treasure chest. It was a dare she reveled in taking. But Will was simply gentle. Gentle loving Will, who still kissed with the innocence of a young man.

"Ah, Miss Swann," he said as he pulled away, fingers lovingly brushing aside a lock of stray hair. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you again."

"It's Elizabeth," she said, feeling the echo of a ghost from the long-ago past.

"No, I think it will be Miss Swann," argued Will, stubbornly steadfast. "It will be Miss Swann until you're mine once again." He lifted her hand to his lips, gingerly pressing them to her soft skin. And without further delay, he walked away, disappearing down into the hold, either to get more rum or pass out in his hammock. Elizabeth hoped it was the latter.

"Oh, Will," she sighed, turning back to the pitch black ocean. "Please don't let me break you again. Once was far too many."

**Sigh. You know, I had a really dramatic scene planned here. Will and Jack were going to throw down hard core. It was going to be great. I was going to villainize the hell out Will, because I like it. But then SOMEONE had to remind me that no matter how angry will is at elizabeth, he's probably never going to hit her, giving jack reason to kick him off her and slap him with the broadside of his sword in turn and say something dramatic and throw him in the brig...see what you missed:) So...thanks for reminding me of Will's character, guys. I think this turn of events can be interesting too. It's will's turn to make jack jealous. Cheers!**


	12. Chapter 12

-112.

Many weeks had passed, and still no sign of the Explorer. Jack was beginning to doubt they'd even set course for Japan at all, at this rate. How could they have missed them? What other possible route could the ship have taken? But Elizabeth took readings on his special compass, and besides the odd tick of the needle in his own direction, it pointed steadily on course. And Jack had no doubt that finding John was what she desired most.

_What if we're too late_, he dared think. What if _she _gets her scaly hands on John, and drags him down to the dregs of Davy Jones' locker, to keep in place of her son? The thought sent chills across his skin. _It's not going to happen, Jack_, he told himself. _We're going to find the boy, and even if the lad can't keep off the sea, we can well keep him away from the Japans. _

It was strange, but Jack felt as though he were getting to know the boy, without him even being here. _Tell me a story, love_, he would request, as something to pass the time behind the helm. So Elizabeth would tell him tales of their son, of the mischief and joy he brought her. He recalled a few times when his grip upon the wheel unwittingly turned his knuckles white, and he felt that damned unfamiliar stinging in his eyes a few times more. _I wish I could have been there, love, _he would tell her with his eyes. There were so many things he wished he would have known.

Their difficultly in finding the boy was not the only element that factored in to Jack's sour mood that night. The whelp was turning the decks of the Pearl into a small space, a very small space indeed. At every passing of Elizabeth, he seemed to devise some way of making contact, a kiss or brush of fingertips. It sickened Jack to watch, deep in the pit of his stomach, like a noxious black ball rolling back and forth in his innards. Who did Will think she was? His wife?

It was jealousy, he admitted to himself. Plain and simple. It should be him who is so free to touch the woman he loves in the bright light of day. It should be him stealing kisses and nips on the neck, not the whelp who seemed to have so badly deluded himself. Elizabeth took his affection like a martyr, not having the heart to push him away, but knowing his efforts would win no ground with her.

The subject of his thoughts made her way up the steps to join him at the helm, as she'd made a habit of doing every night after Will drifted off to sleep in his hammock. She wrapped those long arms around his torso, molding her body to his back, head resting between his shoulder blades. "You seem vexed," she said quietly.

He paused, taking a moment to enjoy the sensation of her body warmth through his clothes. "I'm not vexed," he pouted.

"You are," she insisted, reaching up to brush his neck with fingertips. That single touch threatened to undo him, sending a thrill shooting through his system; his hands clenched the wheel involuntarily.

Pursing his lips, unable or unwilling to hold it in, he fired, "If Will keeps this up, I'm going to make a scene in broad daylight for _all_ to see. I want to do things to you that would make Parrot blush, and take my bloody time about it too. That would set the whelp straight..."

Even as Elizabeth's body shook with a chuckle, the thought of said _things _sent a blushing heat to fire her cheeks and ears. Truthfully, secretly, the thought of Jack doing such a thing delighted her. _You're a wicked woman, Elizabeth, _she scolded her self. _Of course I am. That's why Jack loves me. _

Elizabeth slipped under one of Jack's arms, so she stood within the circle of his arms and the wheel. By the look they exchanged, it seemed they both approved of the position. "So like an animal, you want to mark your territory?" she teased, much amused.

"He practically ravages you on deck!" Jack exclaimed, obviously exasperated. "What does he think he is? A pirate?"

The corners of Elizabeth's mouth turned up in a smug smile. She would never _ever _dare tell him, but she found Jack's little fit adorable. It was certainly not an adjective one could normally apply to the great pirate captain. "I think he's trying to act like you," says Elizabeth. "Or rather, how he thinks you must have seduced me, so many years ago."

Jack narrowed his eyes at the thought of Will even _thinking_ of borrowing his methods. "I've never been so obviously blatantly puppy-dog in love all my life. If you want to woo a maiden, it's all about timing. You've got to lead her along, take your time. You have to make her want you, not attack her with sloppy kisses at every opportunity. For examp--"

Completely without warning, Jack leaned down to take Elizabeth's lips, kissing her deeply, pressing her into the helm in his enthusiasm. The spokes pressed almost painfully into her back, but at that moment she cared not. There was that element of ambush, of passion, that Will could never emulate. Jack pulled back, dragging Elizabeth's bottom lips between his teeth gently, tasting the plump fullness of that sensual mouth. Her knees trembled from the experience; he'd taken her completely unawares.

"I didn't expect that," she admitted, breathless.

He smiled, that devil-may-care curl of lips she loved so dearly. "Exactly, luv."

Unable to resist the warmth of his body so near in the cool night, she reached up, pulling him to her once again. This kiss wasslow and lingering, a languid re-visiting of once charted territories, leaving her knees even weaker than before and lightheaded. "I can't steer the ship and pay you the proper attention you deserve, luv," said Jack, his voice gone low, husky with desire.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, making to move away from her little haven between him and the helm. Before she could escape, Jack held her with a hand on her hip, clucking his tongue disapprovingly. "But I could get Gibbs to steer," he offered. "And we could retreat to my cabin. I promise we won't get a wink of sleep."

A small whimper escaped Elizabeth, and she leaned her head forward, resting in the hollow of his throat. "Jack..." she whined quietly, thoughts of Will sleeping below whizzing through her brain. No matter how much she wanted the pirate, it seemed betraying her husband would never sit well with her.

"Please," Jack breathed into her hair, hand squeezing her hip gently. That one word held such emotion, such raw need, that she thought she could feel her heart breaking all over again. At least at that moment, he felt that if he couldn't hold her near for the night he would die. It wasn't a craving for carnal knowledge solely, although that was certainly in there somewhere. It was more of an intense desire to simply feel her bare skin against his; to draw her warmth to him, to assure himself that he hadn't yet lost her once again.

Elizabeth tried twice before finding her voice, transfixed by his smoldering black eyes. "Yes," she agreed.

Without another word, Jack left her to steer, disappearing on his urgent quest to find his first mate.

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